Sophie and Dustin Smith had intended to surprise their friends and family, who thought they were attending their engagement party, that they were in fact attending their wedding instead.
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Coronavirus and restrictions on the number of attendees at wedding changed that.
"Nobody knew about the surprise except for Dustin's mum, dad and sister and my family," Ms Smith said.
"We initially were going to have family fly from Tasmania and Melbourne and Queensland for the ceremony, but it was at that point that the borders shut down and we had to put that idea to rest."
Rather than abandon their plans for a wedding in the wake of coronavirus restrictions, the couple still sought to tie the knot on May 30 in a short ceremony.
Instead of a gathering with dozens of family and friends, the wedding was just the couple, two bridesmaids, a celebrant and photographer, all complying with COVID-19 rules.
The newlyweds said despite the change of plans, they wouldn't have had it any other way.
"It was so easy making the decision, and it felt right," Ms Smith said.
"We couldn't have picked it being any being any more perfect."
The Kambah couple were one of 158 couples who got married in the ACT since coronavirus restrictions on weddings came into place.
The number of people who got married between March 24, when restrictions were implemented, and June 1 was almost half that of those who were married in the same time period in 2019.
The year before saw 293 married in the time period, while 346 couples were married in the time frame in 2018.
Coronavirus restrictions meant the number of those who got married in the three-month period was the lowest for at least a decade.
In the last week of March, 35 couples tied the knot, while 64 were married in April and 59 in May.
Celebrants have two weeks to lodge the notice of marriage with Access Canberra, meaning the number of people who were married in May could rise slightly.
Restrictions which came into effect in late March meant weddings could only be carried out with the couple, celebrant and two witnesses.
From June 5, the number of people at weddings was increased to a maximum of 20 people, excluding those conducting the ceremony and the photographer.
Canberra marriage celebrant Judy Aulich, who married Dustin and Sophie, said while many chose to postpone their wedding, a large number of couples still wanted to go ahead with their big day.
"There has been a growing trend in the last five to 10 years of couples who want to get married but not have the big wedding," she said,
"Some of the ones that have gone ahead, they didn't mind too much [about the restrictions]. It was more important for them to be married than have a big wedding."
In many cases, Ms Aulich married many people at her home, with some opting 15-minute ceremonies.
While there were those who chose to get married during coronavirus restrictions, Ms Aulich said there was still a substantial drop in the number of ceremonies.
"The virus hit towards of the end of the marriage season. Nobody has booked anything since March," she said.
"Everyone else is holding off."
For Dustin and Sophie Smith, their wedding day coincided with the easing back of restrictions on people in restaurants, which is where they chose to celebrate following the ceremony.
"We had a couple of close friends attend and celebrate with us at the restaurant, otherwise it was going to be takeaway for dinner if we couldn't get in," Ms Smith said.
The couple said they were planning to host a larger celebration with family and friends once restrictions had eased further.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
